6/02/2016

Jake Gyllenhaal has tried his hand at video game movies before. He got all ripped and jacked for 2010's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and while it grossed more than $330M worldwide it didn't become the "next Pirates of the Caribbean" that Disney wanted it to be. Gyllenhaal isn't letting that turn him off from the genre entirely, though, as he's signed up to star in an adaptation of the latest hit game from Tom Clancy.

Variety reports Gyllenhaal will produce and star in a movie based on Tom Clancy's bestselling open-world shooter game, The Division. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan in the wake of a devastating small pox outbreak. After all of society's basic systems fail, the world descends into a chaos and a small group of agents in The Division must investigate the outbreak while restoring the city.

The game was released earlier this year and quickly began breaking records. Not only is it the best-selling game in UbiSoft history, but it earned $330M in sales worldwide and became the biggest seller for a new franchise ever. UbiSoft is the company behind other game adaptations Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed, starring Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender respectively.

It's still pretty early on as a writer and director are still being sought, but it doesn't hurt to have a star like Gyllenhaal to build around. Given the amazing work he's been doing lately a video game movie sounds like a step backwards, but if the film is good nobody will think of it that way.